Exceeding Expectations
by katezilla
Summary: Rose Weasley is entering her seventh year at Hogwarts. She's Quidditch captain, she has good grades and great friends, but she can't help but feel like she needs something more. Will she look past what is expected of her to get it?


**A/N: I just want to make it clear that I have not read any fan fiction about the second generation, so my description of the characters' appearance, personality, etc will probably be different than that of the "norm." Hope you enjoy!**

"Rose? ROSE! GET UP! You're going to miss the train!" Rose Weasley's eyes flew open at the sound of her mother's voice. She looked next to her bedside table to see that her wand alarm had in fact, not gone off. She groaned as she flipped her covers off and started throwing on her muggle clothes. There was a knock at her door and before she could respond, her younger brother, Hugo, swung the door open already dressed and ready to go.

"Mom wanted me to tell you that we're leaving in ten minutes."

"The whole point of knocking is not to be intrusive, Hugo."

He chuckled and stuck out his tongue at her, closing the door just in time to avoid the pillow flying at him. Luckily, Rose hadn't been able to sleep last night, so she had packed most of her things away, leaving out only the things she would need to get ready the morning. She ran her fingers through her long, curly auburn hair and tied it up in a messy bun. Throwing her last few belongings into her trunk and slamming it shut, Rose flicked her wand and sent it downstairs.

_Thank Merlin I'm seventeen. _She thought with relief. She headed downstairs and into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast. When she got into the kitchen, she saw a sack of galleons sitting on the counter. She walked over to it and read the tag. "_Congratulations, Hugo! We hope this is enough to buy yourself some new dress robes and whatever else you may need to have a great school year! Your father and I are so proud of you! –Mum" _

Rose raised an eyebrow as she stuffed the sack into her pocket went to look for her mother. She was sitting on the couch in the living room with Hugo. "Well, it's about time, Rose. We almost left without you."

She pulled the sack from her pocket and threw it at Hugo. The bag hit him in the chest as he failed to catch it in the air. "That's why you'll never be on the team, Hugo."

"Shut up," Hugo muttered.

"So, what amazing thing did you accomplish this year, golden boy?" Rose asked, walking over to the fireplace.

"He's a prefect again, Rose. You know that," her mother replied, rising from the couch. "Where on Earth is your father?"

Just then, her father came in the back door holding something behind his back. "Sorry I'm late, love."

"Ronald, where have you been? We have to get to–"

"Just give me a minute, 'Mione." He turned to his daughter. "Rosie, will you come here for a second?"

She looked at her mother who sighed and said, "We're leaving in two minutes, whether you're finished or not."

Rose nodded and hurried to meet her father in the kitchen. She walked in and said, "What is it, Dad?"

"I have something for you." He held the package out to her. It was wrapped in simple brown paper with ropes tied around it to keep it together. She knew immediately what it was.

"Dad…you didn't."

"Oh, but I did. Go on, open it." Rose snatched the gift and tore the paper off violently. She gasped at what was in front of her. The dark mahogany wood was smooth against her fingertips and she couldn't wait to take it out on the Quidditch pitch.

"It's beautiful," Rose breathed.

"I thought that the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team deserved the new Firebolt."

She looked at her dad with astonishment. "How did you know?"

"Neville owled me as a congratulations. I wasn't surprised. However, I was surprised that you decided to keep it from your mother and me." Rose looked down. "Why is that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to let Hugo have his glory moment with Prefect."

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, I'm proud of you. Your mother will be too." He smiled at her and she smiled back. "I might have to disown you if you don't win the cup, though," he joked and Rose giggled.

"Don't worry, Dad. The other houses are going down."

They met Hugo and her mother at the platform, seeing as they hadn't been finished fast enough for them. Rose had packed her new broom safely away in her trunk and was ready to start a new year in her Gryffindor robes. She walked up to her brother and rolled her eyes as he stood with his chest puffed out so everyone could see his shiny prefect badge. He winked at her and then headed up to the train to begin his authoritative duties as Rose looked around the platform for her friends.

She spotted a tall, black haired man standing next to a girl with flaming hair, similar to that of her fathers and walked up to greet them. "Hi Uncle Harry! Aunt Ginny!"

"Rose! Oh my goodness, you look spectacular!" Ginny hugged her niece and Harry grinned as he did the same.

"You're starting to look so much like your mother. A glimmer of light caught his eye and his grin widened. "Team Captain."

She smiled and shrugged, humbly. "Al told us you were good. I bet Ron's beaming with pride," he said to Ginny. "I was captain in my sixth year, and I'm sure James bragged your ear off when he got his badge. It's quite a task, but I know you'll be fantastic. With your mom's cleverness and that Weasley talent, you'll be unstoppable."

"Thanks, Harry," Rose smiled. "Where's Albus?"

"He's on the train already trying to keep some order. Head Boy, you know." She nodded. Albus had owled her when he got his letter telling her about getting Head Boy. He'd been just as proud of her for getting captain.

While she was thinking, her parents had caught sight of them and were heading over.

"Hey! Now that the kids are out of the house, you two should come over for some Firewhisky!"

"Ronald!" Her mother slapped him playfully.

They chatted about their children as Rose scanned the crowd of people for her friends. She waved politely at her cousin, Dominique who had gotten the job of Ravenclaw Prefect for the past two years and now Head Girl. Lily was chatting with the Scamander twins, flirtatiously, but she blushed and giggled as she caught Rose's eye. Rose smiled back and waved her off, scanning the crowd further. She chuckled to herself and realized just how many Weasleys there were at this school as she watched her Uncle Percy escorting Molly to the train.

A flash of blonde hair caught her eye. She turned to her left and saw the Malfoy family had arrived. Scorpius Malfoy was almost an exact replica of his father, minus the receding hairline and wrinkles. His white blonde hair had grown out, and he'd stopped slicking it back third year, so it was free to blow in the crisp wind and attract the light.

She'd stayed away from him for the most part. She knew their families didn't get along and she assumed he was doing the same, because they'd almost never had any interaction. He was an acquaintance of Albus, just because Albus was one of those people who liked everyone. Lily had a crush on him, but wouldn't ever dare going near him. Lorcan and Lysander knew him pretty well and said he wasn't too bad, but their mom didn't really care about things like grudges.

Truthfully, Scorpius intrigued her. He was brilliant, regal and damn good at Quidditch. She'd never openly admit that he wasn't too bad to look at, either.

Her mother's voice pulled her out of her own head and forced her to turn back to her group.

"I just can't believe you're already in your seventh year, Rose. You're taking your N.E.W.T.S. this year! Don't slack off dear, do your studying. I know you think that your natural brilliance is enough to get you by, but you have to go that extra mile in order to–"

"Love, she knows. Just let her enjoy her last year," her father interrupted.

The train whistle blew again, warning the stragglers to get settled. She kissed her father on the cheek and gave him a big hug, thanking him again. She turned to her mother and hugged her tightly. Her eyes landed on the Captain badge pinned to her chest and her eyes widened with shock. "Rose! Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged again and started towards the train. "I'll owl you, Mum. Bye, Dad!"

"Tell Albus we say hello!" her mother shouted over the train engine. Rose waved back to gesture that she heard her.

Rose picked up her pace and began to jog to get to the train. As she hopped up on the train, she slammed into the back of someone due to not paying attention. She stumbled back and caught herself on the doorframe.

She saw Scorpius picking himself up off the ground and brushing the dust off his robes. "I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going."

He grinned and said, "Don't worry about it."

She nodded and smiled awkwardly before she started down the hallway to find her friends' compartment.

"Weasley! Oi, Weasley!" She spun around at the sound of her surname. Scorpius walked up to her and held out his hand. In it was her captain badge. "You dropped this."

She gingerly took it from his hand and pinned it back on her robes. "Thank you. Sorry again. About running into you, I mean."

He flashed a grin at her again and said, "Like I said, don't worry about it." He looked at her for a second and then said, "So, you're the captain this year?"

She nodded and then noticed the badge on his chest. It looked almost identical to hers, but with a serpent in the background instead of a lion. "I am. And you're Slytherin's?"

He nodded and said, "We're going to crush you, Weasley."

"Bring it on, Malfoy." She replied, playfully. He smirked mischievously and her breath caught in her throat, but she covered it up with a sinister smile of her own. He turned on his heel and walked the opposite direction down the hallway.

She exhaled deeply, and continued her search for her friends' compartment. After a few minutes, she ran into Penny Longbottom, heading for the loo. "Hey, Rose! We were wondering where you were. Everyone's in that compartment there, third on the left."

"Thanks Penny!" Rose smiled and headed to the door. When she pulled open the door she saw Lorcan, Lysander, Albus and Charlotte Davies. Charlotte ran up to her and gave her a huge hug. "You never wrote me! You're a terrible friend!"

Rose laughed and said, "Oh shut it, Char, I wrote you over twenty letters."

Lysander laughed at them and then gave Rose a hug. He and Rose had dated fourth and fifth year, and she broke it off because she felt like she was leading him on in a relationship that she didn't really want. They remained good friends, but he never really got over her feelings for him. Deep down, Rose knew that he still wanted to be with her, but she chose to ignore it because she valued him as a friend.

"So Weasley, as our captain, I just want to tell you that I've put my complete faith in you leading us to crush that Slytherin scum this year." Lorcan chuckled.

"Maybe if we can get someone to train you to stop letting so many quaffles through." Rose teased back, sticking out her tongue. "My parents say hi, Al. As if they really need me to tell you."

Albus smiled at her with his perfect teeth and startling green eyes. It was unbelievable to her how much her best friend looked like his father, minus the scar, obviously.

Penny returned to the compartment and took her seat next to Albus. They'd been dating since the beginning of sixth year. Penny had had a crush on Albus since about third year, and Albus on her since fifth. He was shy when it came to girls, though, so with some help from Lysander, he finally got the courage to ask her out on the train to school just after the summer. It was all quite adorable. She was the Gryffindor prefect since fifth year and made top-notch grades in all her classes. The Prefect and the Head Boy, it was practically fated.

Char settled back down in her seat next to Penny and sighed. Her long, jet-black hair fell into her face and she huffed dramatically to get it out of her face. " I can't believe this is our last year, guys. We're going to have to get jobs and make money and get married and have kids and I just don't think I can handle that!"

Rose laughed, "Whoa, Char, calm down. Let's get through this year first, yeah?"

Lorcan nodded. "Yeah, we're at the top of the heap now, guys. We rule the school! We can get away with practically anything!" Albus shot him a look. "Good thing we've got the Head Boy on our side, right?"

"Don't think I won't give you detention, Lorcan." Albus threatened. Lysander feigned hurt, clutching his chest.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Rose said, "As long as you don't interfere with my team's victory, Al, I don't care what you do to him."

Lorcan turned on her, "Thanks, Rose. I can always count on you."

She smiled to herself and looked out the window at the country passing around her. She didn't want to admit it, but the real world scared her just as much as it scared Char. She pushed the thought out of her mind. She had a great family, a promising Quidditch team and the best friends she could ask for. Her life was wonderful at that moment.

But she couldn't help but feeling that something was missing.

**A/N: Please tell me what you think! I do plan to continue and I'd love to get some feedback! Thanks!**


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